Mandate of Democratic India

Narendra Damodardas Modi emerged an electoral superman who stamped BJP’s massive win with his very own imprint, quite like a picture taken in portrait mode – where all else, including the party and its many leaders, recedes into a fuzzy background. 

Towering over India’s political-scape, the RSS ‘pracharak’ who would be electoral king, powered the BJP-led NDA to victory at the hustings with his party alone poised to win not less than 300 of 542 seats

With the elections establishing the 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the partial vote count released by the Election Commission showed that BJP will not only surpass its 2014 performance but also cross 300-seats mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. 

Such was the force of the BJP wave that even Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his bastion of Amethi to Smriti Irani, but in consolation prize won the Wayanad seat in Kerala. 

The euphoria of the victory was capped by a sombre speech by Modi in which he promised to devote “every moment of my life and every fibre of my body” to the welfare of the nation. He also vowed that he will never do anything with ill-intention, nor will he do anything to enrich himself. 

“Whenever you judge me, judge me on these three parameters. If I fall short on these, curse me. But I assure my countrymen that what I have said in public I will do my best to fulfil,” he said. 

Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them. What’s past is past, he said. 

Until 9 pm, the BJP had won 115 seats and was leading in 188 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls in seven phases in April and May. This has put it on course to likely winning 303 seats, far better than the 282 it won in 2014. With the support of allies in the National Democratic Alliance, the coalition could have some 344 seats. 

The victory margin left the combined opposition in the dust, with the Congress Party stuck at 27 confirmed victories and a lead in 24 seats, according to the partial results. 

The results are a ringing endorsement of Modi’s popularity, his government’s achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centred around national security following the Balakot air strikes, nationalism and Hindutva. He also relentlessly attacked the Congress Party for what he called its dynastic legacy, and blamed it for the country’s woes, including endemic corruption. 

The Opposition had criticised the BJP campaign as divisive and polarising. Still, the results show that the Modi wave and the party’s brilliant election management swept across geographies, caste lines, age, gender and economic status.  

The results were staggering for BJP in the Hindi-speaking states, including those where Congress had won in the recent Assembly elections: it swept all but one of the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 24 out of 25 in Rajasthan and nine out of 11 in Chattisgarh. Similar was the story in Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Delhi and notably Karnataka, where it is expected to win 25 out of 28 seats. 

In the end, Modi’s proclamation of “Ab ki baar 300 paar” just a few days ago looks set to come true as Gandhi’s campaign slogan of “chowkidar chor hai” and promises of annual income guarantee were soundly rejected by voters. 

In almost all the states where BJP won, its vote share was more than 50 percent. US President Donald Trump congratulated Modi on his “big” election victory, saying “great things” are in store for bilateral ties between the two nations.